


A Winter Tradition

by kuro



Category: Marvel
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Projecthappystark, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 12:52:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,132
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2388881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuro/pseuds/kuro
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony sneaks out of work a little earlier for once. </p><p>[A tiny little thing for #projecthappystark. Because a happy Tony is kind of my thing.]</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Winter Tradition

Tony burrows a little deeper into his woollen coat, covering the lower half of his face with his scarf to shield it against the cold. It just snowed for the first time this year last night, but the snow is already piling up, covering every available surface like a fluffy white blanket.

He’s usually very diligent when it comes to his work, but today, just for once, he has decided that it’s completely justified to sneak off a little earlier. The two employees currently manning the reception give him a bit of a strange look when he passes them by, but as soon as he has left the building and mingled with the pedestrians on the street, no one gives him as much as a second glance.

It’s just what he wants, right now.

He has a specific destination in mind, but for once, he’s in no hurry to arrive. Nothing urgent is waiting for him, no world that needs saving, no emergency shareholder meeting, no incident in a production plant somewhere that needs to be taken care of right this moment. So he takes his time, marvelling at the bright Christmas decorations everywhere, studying the shop windows as he passes them by.

Almost all of his Christmas presents are ready by now, but there are still a few that are giving him a bit of a headache. Pepper, Rhodey or Peter are easy – Pepper and Rhodey because of long years of experience, Peter because anything worth any amount of money is valuable to him. It’s both cute and a little pathetic. But that’s Peter for you.

Steve, on the other hand, is a challenge just as every year. It’s mostly because Tony knows that Steve doesn’t really like it when he splurges with money, and Tony pressures himself to find something special and unique every year anyway.

The city is busy and the streets are crowded, just as every year shortly before Christmas. But even though Tony gets jostled a few times, he’s feeling to mellow to really get upset about it. Instead, he indulgently watches excited children run around, calling for their parents to look at this and that. A choir singing slightly unusual Christmas songs is standing at the corner of a street, so he stops for a moment to listen, giving them a hearty tip when he finally moves on.

Tony walks a little further and then turns into an unremarkable side street. As soon as he has made one step into the narrow street, the bustling of the crowd behind him grows quiet and the city is wrapped in the silence of an early winter evening. The destination of his little journey comes into sight, and he can’t help but smile in anticipation.

It’s a tea room, antique in its design from the beautiful stained glass front door down to the carefully polished silver spoons. The owner could make a fortune with it, really, but she’s unwilling to get the shop too crowded – it’s her determination to serve each customer to their full satisfaction and to do so with utmost decorum. Tony only indulges himself rarely, but during winter time, it’s inevitable that he visits at least once. His mother took him here every year to enjoy the wonderful Christmas-themed drinks and sweets, and he couldn’t get rid of the tradition if he wanted to.

Tony pushes the door of the shop open, and the whiff of spices and the elegant ring of the bell above the door is already enough to instantly drown him in a wave of nostalgia. He can almost hear his mother’s laughter, leading him to the same table that they always sat at when they visited.

“It’s good to have you back, Mr. Stark,” Lady Marian greets him, startling him out of his little trip down memory lane. Tony smiles broadly and goes over to give her a hug, just like he has done every time he was here since he was old enough to give hugs.

“You look just as lovely as always, milady,” Tony greets her, completely serious. Her hair might have lost its black lacquer shine and turned almost white now, but she’s still the same graceful lady with the dignity of a goddess. Now that he knows Thor, he sometimes can’t help but wonder if she isn’t one, actually.

“I already expected you, my dear,” Lady Marian says with a smile, patting him on the cheek.

“Have you finally mastered the art of mind reading?” Tony asks, smiling. “Or-”

He does a double take before he smiles again. “I see how it is.”

“I’ll come by your table later,” Lady Marian tells him, but Tony is already on the move, a particular table in the line of his sight.

“Isn’t _that_ a surprise,” Tony says by way of greeting, giving the sole occupant of the table a grin and a raised eyebrow.

“I had a feeling,” Steve answers, dropping his fork on the plate in front of him and having the decency to look a little embarrassed.

“Did you, now,” Tony teases, but he leans down to give his husband a kiss. Steve is wonderfully warm, unlike Tony, who has just come out of the cold. Tony has a hard time not to indulge and wrap himself around Steve like a snake. Lady Marian might be lenient towards him, but that would probably be a little too much for her to simply ignore.

“You’re already almost finished,” Tony quietly complains after he has handed off his scarf and coat to an attendant.

“I’m a big boy with a big appetite, I can get another one,” Steve replies with a big smile. “And the cakes are so good it would be a crime not to.”

Tony can’t help but agree, and he can’t help but be a little happy that his husband apparently knows him well enough to be able to anticipate when Tony feels the urge to visit his favourite tea room. He certainly hasn’t mentioned anything to Steve recently.

Steve takes Tony’s hands, placing little kisses all over them and rubbing them lightly to get them to warm up. Tony is probably grinning like a helplessly besotted idiot, but he is so ridiculously in love with his gentle, attentive husband, he just can’t help it.

“I love you,” he whispers, simply because he can.

Steve beams at him, bending forward to give Tony another kiss. “I love you, too,” he whispers against his lips.

By the time Tony’s hot and wonderfully spicy drink arrives, he has already been thoroughly warmed up in a way no drink could ever hope to achieve.

 

He quietly hopes his mother can see him now, here in their favourite place, together with his favourite person.

She always wanted him to be happy.


End file.
